Rosemary and Olive Oil Foccacia

A Fabulous accompaniment to soups, or with tapas …it is mildly sweet and nutty due to the addition of spelt. Lightly dusted with Seasalt, Rosemary sprigs pierced onto the dough this Foccaccia won’t let you down. Ideal for those who are strapped for time or do not have the patience for kneading dough for a long time. Spelt prefers not to be kneaded for too long. It will be lighter in texture.

My children dunk it in glorious amounts of olive oil. They will grab the bottle of olive oil and drizzle on top. Delightful with your favourite dips and tapas.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups Sifted Wholemeal Organic Spelt Flour

1 cup Sifted Plain Flour

1/2 tbspn semolina ( optional )

1 packet dry yeast (7 g sachet )

1 cup warm water ( apx 29 degrees )

3 tbspns olive oil

1 tbspn olive oil to baste

Sea salt

Rosemary Springs

2 tbspns sharp cheese of preference

Method

Preheat oven to 60 degrees Celsius.

Place your dry ingredients (flour, salt) into a large bowl. Pour olive oil and rub into the flour until it resembles fine crumbs. Add yeast and form a well. Gradually pour warm water and mix with a fork initially. Transfer the mixture into a food processor with dough appendage. If you don’t have one this is fine, but you will need to start working with your hands. Lightly dust your hands first and then with the base of your palm mix the flour and water together until it is shiny and smooth and slightly sticky. The consistency will depend on the accuracy of the measurements of the dry ingredients and the temperature of the water.

It is best to start with a dough that is too wet than dry. So you may want to add a quarter of a cup extra water in the beginning before you mix it into the flour. If is way too sticky and the dough mix doesn’t separate from the bowl then you’ll need to add a little bit more flour kneaf again until it is slightly sticky consistency.

Cover dough with greaseproof paper and place a warm towel on top. Turn off preheated oven. Place dough in oven for 30 mins. After this time the dough should have doubled in size.